Recap: 'Survivor: South Pacific' - 'Cut Throat'

Pre-credit sequence. We pick right up after Tribal Council on a mighty awkward walk back to Te Tuna, particularly for Cochran, who gets pulled aside by Ozzy. Cochran tries explaining that he just didn't want his fate determined by a stone, which Ozzy doesn't particularly buy. Ozzy seems pretty chill to me, but Saintly Brandon comes over to protect Cochran from the The Bad Man. "We're not gangsters over here, man," Ozzy tells Brandon, before turning to Cochran and reminding him that "I put my ass on the line for you, directly and personally." This isn't exactly true, but Ozzy's pretending to believe it's true. "You just stabbed me in the back so hard," Ozzy concludes, calling Cochran a "wiener." Jim much more blunt, telling Cochran that he is "A poor excuse for a man," advising him to never talk to him again. Whitney's also displeased, telling Cochran and she and Keith saved him three times. "You've got a lot to learn, buddy. You disgust me," Whitney says. Ouch. Cochran's new alliance welcomes him around the fire, but he's unsure of his position. And then we let Jimbo and Whitney swear a bit more about how much they hate Cochran. This is gonna be an obnoxious episode, isn't it?

The Morning After. "We pulled off an amazing feat at Tribal Council last night," Coach celebrates during his morning walk-and-pray. Coach thinks he'll have a good shot if he's not arrogant. So he's dead, right? The new alliance asks Cochran who he wants out next and Cochran suggests Jim. "My total strategy is gone. I have nothing more I can do," Ozzy says, vowing to "keep on winning, til there's no one left."

Spit or Swallow. This is very early for an Immunity challenge, isn't it? They have to toss coconuts into a ring. The first four to put the coconuts in a ring have to crack the coconut and do an obstacle course, spitting coconut water into a glass. Dawn lands the first coconut, followed by Whitney, Jim and then Sophie. Farewell to Ozzy's very brief unbeatable run and perhaps farewell to Ozzy. Suddenly Sofie is a force. When did this happen? She and Jim are neck-and-neck, with Dawn and Whitney barely factors. Jim nearly wins, but his coconut water comes up just short. Will Sofie's last mouthful be enough? Tragically, Sophie can't keep that last mouthful down. She has a reversal of fortune and Jim wins Immunity.

The Cowardly Lyin'. Brandon lays down the law, that it will be six votes against Ozzy. "How many changes do you get to vote him out of this game?" Brandon asks. "Apparently two," Cochran laughs. Brandon stares dead-eyed. "Oh yeah," he finally realizes. For his part, Ozzy goes to Coach and announces that he doesn't want to go. "I don't want you to leave, man," Coach tells Ozzy, appreciating his rival's newfound humility. Coach then quotes Marcus Aurelius, just in case we forgot who we were dealing with here. Dawn suddenly decides this might be the perfect time to flip. Too little, too late. Out in the water, Jim and Whitney share their hatred for Cochran. "I call a coward a coward, because that's me. I'm not a coward," Jim says. But he has a plan. Jim's willing to take off his necklace, give it to Ozzy and make the case that the only person who betrayed their tribe this season is Cochran and that they should vote him out. For the good of a morally righteous society or something. "Everything's pretty surreal to me right now," Ozzy says. He stares out at a rainbow and vows never to give up.

Tribal Council. Hmmm... I don't quite get the structure to this episode. But here we are with Jeff Probst lecturing the tribe on "big moves." Cochran says that Jim was the loudest in their opposition to his move and Jim acknowledges that "I said some things that were immature." Do we buy that, kids? "It was a personal decision. I viewed it as an opportunity to take control of my own fate," Cochran says, making the case that there's a reason why nobody's pulled rocks since Season 4. Jim runs through the list of times that he'd saved Cochran (not untrue, in this case) and says that no member of the Upolu would let somebody else fight their battles for them. "I think the proof's in the pudding," Newly Heroic Brandon declares, also calling it "poetic justice." "I feel like I'm being villainized," Whitney says. Yes, honey. For good reason. Jim makes his speech, praising his own "warrior heart and a warrior soul." He makes the argument that they can make a statement to all future "Survivor" players that this game can be played with integrity and without turncoats. Yes. It would also suck, dramatically. But Coach, to the rescue! Probst asks if he agrees with Jim's theory on the message voting Cochran out would send and Coach replies, "I think that it would send a message to everybody that if you stick up for yourself you're gonna get screwed and I'm not going to see that happen." Go Coach! "When I'm at Redemption, I'm not feeding 11 people. I'm feeding myself," Ozzy warns everybody, vowing revenge. "I'll make you a nice fish and I'll send you on your way," Ozzy says of the Redemption Island reception they can vow. And Jim, man of his word, hands the Immunity Idol to Ozzy. Wait. No. "I'm gonna keep it for myself," Jim says. I guess that's why it's an Immunity Idol, not an Integrity Idol.

The Vote. "I just really don't like you," Jim says, writing Cochran's name down. Cochrane writes Ozzy's name. Probst goes to tally the votes. Ozzy. Cochran. Ozzy. Cochran. Ozzy. Ozzy. Ozzy. And for the second time this season, Ozzy is out. "You guys fell for my master plan," Ozzy says. [I'd forgotten that we had three people on Redemption Island post-Merge last season. That explains the pacing of this episode. Forgetful Dan! Sorry.] Ozzy is proud of the big risks he played. He arrives at Redemption Island and he and Keith share their hatred for Cochran. Hate: It's what brings us together.

Sashimi. On Redemption Island, Ozzy immediately goes out fishing in the reef. We get some gorgeous underwater photography and Ozzy returns with a gigantic fish. Keither is mighty happy with his new chum. "I wish I was in the game, but I'm just as happy to be here," Ozzy says. He ends with, "I wonder what they're eating today."

Time to eat the donuts. Wait. That's supposed to be a hard cut to the Te Tuna tribe members eating rice and looking miserable and emaciated, right? That's how reality TV grammar goes. Instead? It's just time for another Immunity Challenge. Will it at least be an eating challenge? Nope. Players have to stand on a beam balancing a ball on a bow. There's a twist, though. Players can sit the challenge out and feast on pastries and iced coffee. Whew. See? I knew there had to be food. Coach doesn't even crack a smile. "I want to compete today," Coach says. But... "We are a family and we stick together and we're unified in our stance," Coach says and, indeed, his alliance is unified in their decision to devour carbs and caffeine. Only Whitney, Jim and Dawn are completing for Immunity. Probst narrates portentously, taking time out only to chide Coach for his munching, crumbs and frosting dripping from his facial hair. Jim goes out grumbling, as Dawn vows to stay in, urging the others to stuff their faces. Whitney isn't anywhere near that magnanimous. The challenge lasts longer than the pigs can eat at the trough. With no available vomitorium, Brandon's eyes glaze (like a donut) and he rests his head on Cochran's shoulder. Dawn makes a miraculous recover. Whitney says something snarky. Dawn wobbles. Whitney wins Immunity. Albert noticed how enthusiastically his team cheered for Dawn at the challenge and he's worried.

The Ballad of the Rhino and the Serpent. Back at camp, Cochran is feeling puckish, dancing around in Coach's blazer and Rick's hat. "Cochran right now is playing the most brilliant third-place game in 'Survivor' history," cracks Jim. He's probably correct. But I don't like Jim, so I refuse to laugh. Refuse! Jim pulls Albert and Sophie aside and draws diagrams in the sand to prove that voting Edna out of the game would be their best play. They nod appreciative, but Albert isn't convinced in the slightest. Albert actually fears Dawn more than Jim, because she's likable and she's being social with his alliance. And that's exactly what Dawn is trying to do. Albert makes his pitch to Sophie, who cautions that it's too early to switch up the game. Coach compares Jim to a rhino, but he thinks Dawn is the serpent. "They can both kill you, but hopefully we're going to send the right person home tonight," Coach says, giving up his metaphor half-way.

Tribal Council, II. Coach agrees with Probst that Jim or Dawn is going home. Everybody goes through Jim and Dawn's relative attributes. Dawn says that had the roles been reversed, Savaii would be picking off Upolus, but then she says that she probably wouldn't have eaten the pastries. Uh-oh. If there's anything Brandon hates, it's hypocrisy, even if nothing Dawn said was actually the least bit hypocritical. "I don't buy it," Brandon says. Dawn and Brandon have an inane back-and-forth as the Upolus realize or remember that they're in league with a crazy person. "I feel like we definitely have been vilified," Whitney says, getting the words right this time and crying. "They don't even accept us as real people," Whitney says, taking exception to her portrayal as a bully. Sniff. Sniff. She's like The Elephant Man. Only a hot, blonde woman.

The Vote, II. Probst goes to tally the votes. Edna. Edna. Edna. Jim Jim. Jim. Jim. Jim. And that's it for Jim. Off to Redemption Island to share hatred for Cochran. "I'm sad. I think I played a great game," Jim says, a bit confused by what "played a great game" means.

Bottom Line. If last week was "Survivor" at its best, this week was "Survivor" at its worst. Because of the Redemption Island requirements, we had to squish two weeks of eliminations into a single frenzied hour that left little time for characterization. And despite some half-hearted attempts to upset the apple cart, the majority alliance did exactly what you're supposed to do in a position of post-Merge power and they picked off the two strongest members of the weakest alliance. And in the process of doing what you're supposed to do, all of the members of the Upolu tribe managed to look like ginormous buffoons. Structurally, I think this episode was built to make one case: Dawn is the only remaining underdog in this game. So many members of Upolu are so hard to root for and most of the Savaiis have been pretty much portrayed as scum, whether or not they deserved to be. But that leaves Dawn. Cochran betrayed her last week also, betrayed her after she explicitly told him not to, but hers was the only post Tribal Council reaction we didn't see. Yup. I'm feeling like the editors are steering us in a specific direction and since I don't really love anybody this season, I guess we all might as well follow. No exit interview this week...

A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.

Comments

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Oy, I HATE that they're following the same post-merge process for Redemption Island. By far the biggest flaw in it last season was how 3 out of 4 people would stay alive in each "challenge." They should stick to the pre-merge 1-on-1 format. It's tough to get excited over players having a 75% chance of surviving over there each week.

sorry.... I know it is tough to do tribe swaps with this "Person A vs Person B" format they have done the last two years, but I blame the producers for keeping them so straight forward. They best seasons have always been the ones where there was tribe swaps and people had a choice of which people to build relationships with.

Now, it is so pre-determined, and for some reason, there is much an emphasis on "not betraying your tribe," that it has created a situation where there is no mystery.

Had the second challenge taken place after the second tribal council I would like to think that the three competeing would have done rock paper scissors to decide amonst themselves who got immunity and then at the start of the challenge had two drop out immediately to deny the other seven food.

Huh? What's so interesting about the Savaii people (aside from Cochran)?

Ozzy is fun to watch when he's fishing or acting like Chris Kattan's Mr. Peepers character from SNL, but he's a very socially- and strategically-challenged player. And he has an annoyingly arrogant sense of entitlement.

Jim is a jerk, a terrible player, and a hypocrite: he was the first one to betray his tribe (instigating the Elyse ouster), and now he sits on his high horse and talks of honor and how Cochran is a coward? Get a grip, buddy.

The only impression Whitney has made on me is that she is an extremely poor sport.

Keith seems like an aspiring model/actor who has no idea how the game is played. And he's a jerk, too.

I guess I kind of like Dawn, but it's hard to root for her after she was all wishy-washy last week about flipping. If she could grow a backbone, she would be interesting.

They are just being total hypocrites is all. As evidence by all the Dawn talking about how this is "one tribe." When in reality they are just trying to ensure they have a better chance of forming some new alliance down the road when Coach's alliance needs to breaks apart.

I think the reactions to Cochran from Jim and Whitney clearly show what kind of people he was stuck with and puts to rest the talk that he made the wrong decision. I believe that even if he’d stayed with his old tribe and somehow made it to the end, none of them would have voted for him anyway.

Sophia showed some athletic ability in the coconut challenge that she hadn’t displayed too much before. Didn’t she say something in an earlier episode about holding back some of her cards in that department?

I’ll give Jim points for creativity in his appeal to “warrior this and warrior that”. But, Coach had an equally creative answer that he gave on the fly when he said voting for Cochran would send a message that sticking up for yourself gets you screwed.

Coach compared Dawn to a serpent. At least he didn’t blame her for the original sin of the Savaii tribe.

With Jim out, and I doubt very much that he can beat both Ozzy and Keith in a challenge to return to the game, I wonder if Dawn could somehow appeal to Cochran and guilt him into rejoining her and Whitney. With Whitney’s harsh words to Cochran that seems unlikely. However, an alliance of Cochran, Dawn, Whitney might be able to convince Edna and the other lowest member of Upolu that they have a better chance leaving Upolu. We’ve seen Sophie and Albert wonder about staying in Upolu before. Anyway, a very slim chance of that happening but it could make things interesting.

You may be right about Edna. However, I still think she is a firm #6 in that group. She may or may not realize that and she may think her bond with Benjamin elevates her. I think she makes an attractive person to bring to the final because it seems like she would get little support from a jury.

I think this is going to be one of those juries that does a lot of voting against someone over anger rather than voting for someone because they played well. Should be interesting regardless.

I disagree with Dan on the notion that "the Redemption Island requirements" squished this into one hour. Instead, it was the producers wisely realizing that two straight, obvious Pagongings had little dramatic merit, and in a show which has completely ditched the whole "survival" aspects there's just nothing to see if there's no strategery to follow. So smoosh them together, and speed up to the part of the season that's fun: when alliances turn on themselves.

When you get around to interviewing Jim and Whitney after they've inevitably been eliminated, you need ask them why they are just hypocrites. I don't understand how people can be so unaware of how being dismissive and mean to other player is somehow honorable. More specifically I like how Jim said he'd give immunity to Ozzy., but didn't. Douche.

I don't think Cochran will win, or that he's a genius, but I can see exactly why he did what he did and their childish reaction only proved his point.

The only person I can understand being rightly pissed off about Cochran's decision was Jim. Since it would have been Jim and Cochran the only members of their tribe with the chance of going home last week. But Jim's whole coward thing and poor excuse for a man BS went too far, its a game.

Ozzy/Whitney/Dawn being "betrayed" or upset by Cochran's decision, when they were risking nothing if it went to rocks, is just ridiculous.

I wish Cochcran would have owned his decision to turn on his tribe more. Instead of being like "I'm sorry I turned on you, but it was in my best intrest" he should have been "You are damn right I turned on you guys, because you repeated showed you didn't wanted me as part of your alliance, in every tribal I got votes, and was clearly not part of this team. I would be an idiot if I "stayed" with you guys."

I think that the editors this season have been underplaying the closeness between Keith and Whitney, so it's possible that Whitney was pissed off because Cochran betrayed her TV boyfriend more than anything else...

I don't think the 2 eliminations was due to RI. I think they realized the lack of excitement when there's a 7-4 advantage and voting is just 1 at a time week after week. It happened a few years back and wasn't at all interesting, so why not speed things up.

Shady - Except that they did the exact same thing in the post-Merge episode last season, with two Tribal Councils to put three people on Redemption Island without anybody going home. Of course, last season was also a post-Merge annihilation of the minority alliance, but I really think that the structure is so that if you're going to have three people on Redemption post-Merge, you only have one episode with nobody being entirely eliminated, rather than two.

A bit late with this post but I think Jim was right on about Cochran playing a 3rd place game. Coach will try to take 2 of these three to the end: Brandon, Edna, Cochran. He must be secretly loving Brandon upsetting the members of the other tribe. Could play out just like last season with Boston Rob.

Jordo - This is true. And I've been calling Rick "Dale" all season and then correcting it. And I don't know why. Who's the cowboy-like reality contestant named "Dale" who I've decided to confuse Rick with. Anybody?